The Fountain

Dedicated to J.

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Before Snake Eyes, there was A Certain Sacrifice: another movie I hated, after seeing it for the first time. I totally agreed on M, at the time: what a mistake. There was simply no quality in there. Just a bad attempt to make a movie.

But like Abel Ferrara's film, this was a case of bad timing: I wasn't mature enough to grasp the real essence of it - and what it actually represents.

A Certain Sacrifice (1979) can't be labelled simply as "a movie". Screenplay and characters are, actually, peripheral to a much higher purpose: to capture the energy, the vibe of a specific generation in a particular space and time: New York City, late 70s / early 80s.

Only now this can be recognized as such. This 60 min. film is an experience of time-travelling and no high-budget production could recreate it better. A Certain Sacrifice is genuine, raw (thank God it's low-low-budget) and in-your-face.

But more than anything, it is a document that gives us access to something so valuable. I was talking to a dear friend of mine - who's passionate about the NYC/early 80s era - about a specific scene from the movie, the other day: the scene when Bruna and Dashiel meet, at the water fountain in Washington Square Park.

This is, actually, Madonna's first recorded appearence ever, on film. We must not take "The Egg Film" or some other high-school home videos into account. We're talking about building up a career. And that's what she was doing here, 2 years after moving to New York.
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The more we talked about the fountain scene, the more I realized: what we are witnessing here is Madonna's prime, raw essence, coming to life. She's not just acting. She's performing. It's easy to imagine the director, Stephen Jon Lewicki, telling her: Just do your thing. Improvise. Action!

And there she was, unleashing this intense energy of Fire and Leo, bursting like a volcano. It's not Bruna in there. It's Madonna, the girl who was living hand to mouth but who fed herself on a dream; the girl who walked around the streets of New York and looked into people's eyes, warning them telepathically: One day, I'm gonna be famous and you will recognize me. It's Madonna, without the audience, the industry, the critics, the fans, the pressure to live up to any standards. Only the camera and her untouched essence.

We can see all this on this specific scene. It's really The Fountain of it all.